


Beautiful

by MissAnonymoushp



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Boys In Love, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Love, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-17
Updated: 2016-11-17
Packaged: 2018-08-31 12:51:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8579269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissAnonymoushp/pseuds/MissAnonymoushp
Summary: Magnus found himself staring down at his boyfriend. Alec laid facedown, naked from the waist up, his hair tussled from the restlessness of sleep, and Magnus just couldn’t help but think, How did I get so lucky?





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [i-am-having-an-emotion](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=i-am-having-an-emotion).



> Written for the Malec Secret Santa (2016). Happy Holidays to the one and only @i-am-having-an-emotion over on Tumblr.

“You’re beautiful.”   
  
Magnus hadn’t meant to speak. The words had just fallen out of his mouth without him being able to stop them. The second he saw his lover start to stir, he regretted the words only because they were rousing Alec from sleep he probably desperately needed. The Nephilim had been sleeping most of the evening, letting the worries of the day – week – year fade away in the safe embrace of his dreams. Magnus had busied himself with clients, potion brewing, even making tea just because he could before he had finally retreated to the bedroom.  
  
He’d been reading Shakespeare’s _Macbeth_ for probably the 400th time when his mind had started to wander, and he found himself staring down at his boyfriend. Alec laid facedown, naked from the waist up, his hair tussled from the restlessness of sleep, and Magnus just couldn’t help but think, _How did I get so lucky?  
  
_ Of course, Shadowhunters just _had_ to be notoriously light sleepers. Hazards of the job. Magnus had been tiptoeing all evening, and the fact that he’d been able to crawl into bed and turn on a book lamp with Alec only shuffling a bit before settling had been quite the accomplishment. But speaking aloud? That was a definite no-no.  
  
“M’what?” Alec murmured out.  
  
A smile touched Magnus’s lips as Alec cracked open his hazel eyes to look up at him, lifting his head just enough so that he could get a good look at him when he spoke. The effect was truly adorable, and Magnus couldn’t help but think, _Well, it’s not really my fault that I couldn’t control myself, is it? Being that angelic should be a crime_.  
  
But this time he kept his thoughts to himself.  
  
“I said you’re beautiful.” He reached out to gently brush Alec’s wilting hair out of his face, his palm landing to cup his cheek. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”  
  
Alec stared up at Magnus for a long moment without saying anything. Whether his sleepy mind was trying to process what he had just said as if it were a complicated algorithm or if he was just trying to figure out if Magnus were telling the truth, the warlock couldn’t say. But he let Alec do his staring. He liked to think he was something worth staring at.  
  
“What time is it?” Alec said with a bit more clarity, moving to roll over so that he could sit up.  
  
Magnus let out a small sigh of defeat. Well, he’d really done it now. He was going to hear about it from Jace and Izzy later, he was sure, when their brother showed up at the Institute tomorrow exhausted.  
  
“It’s late,” he said. “Go back to sleep.”  
  
Alec gave a small shake of his head. He rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes. “I’m awake,” he said in a definitive tone. And, boy, was it ever definitive. If Magnus didn’t know any better, he would say that Shadowhunters had pure adrenaline running through their veins most days. Getting Alec back to sleep was like getting a werewolf to change its fur – it just didn’t happen.  
  
“Which you shouldn’t be.” Magnus closed his book and set it on the bedside table before turning to Alec. He gently ran his fingers through his messy hair, making it stand on end in all sorts of wild directions. Alec’s eyes closed in appreciation. “Go back to sleep. I’ll finish reading in the other room.”  
  
He pressed a kiss to the corner of his slightly parted lips. When Alec didn’t respond right away, he figured he had won the battle and got up to leave the room. He was at the doorway when Alec’s voice made him stop.  
  
“Magnus,” he called. Alec slipped out of bed, his black sweatpants hanging low on his lips, momentarily distracting Magnus entirely. It took until Alec was standing in front of him before Magnus could force his eyes back to his boyfriend’s face again.  
  
“Mm-hmm?” Magnus managed to get out. Did he need to revisit how unfair it was for a man to look that good? By the angel, it had to be hazardous to people’s health if the way his heart would always skip a beat was any indication.  
  
Alec braced a hand along the doorframe. His expression intense, and Magnus had known him – loved him – long enough to know that he was trying not to let his self-doubts stop himself from getting what he wanted. His free hand came up to cup Magnus’s cheek, mimicking Magnus’s action from earlier. Alec lowered his head to kiss Magnus’s exposed clavicle, his lips brushing the hem of his blue satin robe. It was tentative – maybe he was still not awake enough to be more aggressive or maybe there was more on his mind. Magnus couldn’t tell. His precious Nephilim, always a mystery.  
  
“We haven’t been alone in three days,” Alec breathed.  
  
That was true, but Magnus didn’t want to think about that when he had so many other better things to focus on. Like the way Alec’s hand had left his face so that he could pull at the ribbon keeping his robe closed.  
  
“Alec,” Magnus said, somehow – masterfully, if he did say so himself – finding the strength to grab Alec’s hand to stop it from venturing further south. His other hand nudged Alec’s chin up so that he could look his lover in the face. “You also haven’t slept in three days.”  
  
“I was just sleeping,” Alec said.  
  
“For five hours at most,” Magnus said. He gently cupped Alec’s cheek to rub his thumb across the dark circles gathering under his lover’s eyes. “You looked exhausted. We’ll have tomorrow.”  
  
Alec let out a frustrated breath. His shoulders sank defeated, and he leaned forward, resting his forehead against Magnus’s, his eyes falling closed. “I’ve just missed you so much,” he whispered. “I didn’t know…” His words caught.  
  
Magnus intertwined their fingers. He kept his eyes open, searching Alec’s face in front of him. “Didn’t know what?”  
  
“That I could miss someone this much,” Alec finished.  
  
Magnus felt his chest swell with love. He swallowed thickly. He saw what Alec had gone through when Jace had disappeared, the desperation, the anger, the panic – and, of course, the deep-seated sense of loss that only comes with the parabatai bond. But he and Alec didn’t have any such bond; magic didn’t keep the two of them together. In fact, if it was up to the magical beings of the world, they would probably be far, far apart.  
  
All he and Alec had were their hearts. Magnus tilted his chin up, capturing Alec’s lips in a kiss. The kiss went from surprised to searing in seconds. Magnus flipped their positions, pushing Alec’s back into the doorframe.  
  
“I missed you too,” Magnus said, his hands on Alec’s shoulders, gently kneading the tense skin beneath his fingertips. “But I’m not going anywhere.”  
  
“You say that now, but you _are_ the most desired person in the world,” Alec said.  
  
Magnus raised a single elegant eyebrow. “Excuse me?”  
  
Alec’s face went red. “Nothing… It’s just… something Izzy said…”  
  
An intrigued smile spread across Magnus’s face. “Oh?”  
  
Alec brought a hand up to rub at his face, clearly embarrassed. But – well – he was adorable while he did it, so Magnus couldn’t bring it in him to feel too guilty for teasing him. “She just… was talking with one of her contacts, and… apparently… you’re well known in the Downworld, and… well…”  
  
“Desired,” Magnus said, repeating the word he had used earlier. Alec shoved his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants as he turned his gaze skyward. His blush traveled down his neck and to his chest. Magnus’s grin grew. “I see. And why is that a bad thing?”  
  
“It’s not!” Alec said quickly. And in that moment, Magnus could read his expression like a book: _I’m not jealous. Who’s jealous? Not me._ “It’s just… you’re… you. And I’m…” He gave a helpless shrug.  
  
“Beautiful,” Magnus supplied.  
  
Those hazel eyes bore into him with such intensity and love that Magnus decided he needed to say that a million more times just so the comment would sink in. His dear beautiful Nephilim deserved the world – or at least a little confidence.  
  
“I love you,” Magnus said. “I love _you_.”  
  
Alec’s arms wrapped around his toned body and pulled him into a tight embrace. He buried his face into the crook of Magnus’s neck. “I love you, too,” he whispered. “And you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”  
  
After being alive for hundreds of years and – as Izzy apparently put it – being one of the most desired people on the planet, he should’ve been immune to such compliments. And yet, his heart practically did a backflip at the comment. He wrapped his arms around Alec’s torso and held him back just as fiercely. Later, he would coax Alec back to bed so that his poor Nephilim could get some _sleep_ , but for right now… he just wanted to memorize the feel of being in his lover’s beautiful embrace.


End file.
